So we're going to upgrade the forums this coming Sunday. The upgrade will take place during the Amsterdam daytime hours (CET) and will likely take most of the day to complete.

Of course it goes without saying that we hope it's a matter of a few hours, but every upgrade so far has caused days of downtime after the effect. So if we need all day to be sure it's done right, that is what it will take.

Timan has ported the current "Pegasus" theme to Invision Power Board 3.4.5, so for many there won't be a very noticeable change except of course for a few more new options, and complete IE10 compatibility

Noticeable changes to come are an overhaul of the warning system, we can now give standard reasons for warnings, although the note to the offender will always remain custom to the infraction. Members will also be required to "acknowledge" any warnings before they can post again. This helps our moderating team against members "going off on one" in multiple topics.

And finally there is an archive option built into IPB now. So we will be able to archive topics that haven't been replied to for a year (this may change to a shorter period) this will definitely speed up the forums and SQL database, more info on that when the upgrade is completed.

When the upgrade starts on Sunday I will also post a notice on the front page, and try to keep everyone updated on our progress.

Answers to FAQ

Yes, Everything will be preserved (with exception to Blogs).

There will be no Darkside theme initially, we are going to be updating the whole site with a new theme, a new Darkside will return.
Maybe try f.lux?

We don't know how long the upgrade will take, or when the new themes will be completed (yet).

As pointed out months ago, Blogs are being discontinued for subscribers. They will not be accessible after the upgrade.

The default Pegasus theme is completed and will be used initially, it will be the only available theme.

Yes, we will be using the "Solved" feature for all tech related forums.

If you have any questions related to the upgrade, I'll do my best to answer your questions either in this post or as a reply.

We held out as long as we could, but now Neowin forums isn't even compatible with IE10. There's no dodging it.. unless we made the new theme on 3.2 which would be rather silly.

the solution is simple, use Firefox or Chrome >.>

JK. Good luck with the upgrade, and thanks for keeping on top of things and making Neowin stay relevant and up with the times while still hanging onto its originality and custom features Three cheers for the Neowin devs!